Men's Tennis

Men's Tennis Downs Southern Maine, 8-1

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's men's tennis team won three split set matches in singles and defeated visiting Southern Maine, 8-1, in a Little East Conference match at the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Complex Sunday afternoon.

The Corsairs, who won two of the three doubles matches, got a three-set win at number five singles from senior Christoph Forster (Reading, MA/Reading HS), who defected USM's Matt McGowan, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5. UMass Dartmouth won two singles matches after dropping the first set. At number one singles, sophomore Mason Viau (Marion, MA/Bishop Hendricken HS/Connecticut) defeated Josh Warren, 4-6, 6-4, (12-10), winning in a super-tiebreaker. At number two singles, freshman Troy Pandolfi (Danbury, CT) also won in a super-tiebreaker, downing Derek Stevenson, 3-6, 6-3, (10-7).

Pandolfi, freshman Karsten Rathlev (Winchester, MA/Winchester HS), junior Ken Sims (Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford HS) and freshman Brian Lui (Medfield, MA/Medfield HS) all won twice for UMD. Rathlev defeated Steve Lent at number three singles, 6-2, 6-3, then teamed with Pandolfi to down Lent and Zach Caron at number two doubles, 8-1. Sims defeated Caron at number five singles, 6-2, 6-3, while Lui downed Stefan Kelly at number six, 7-5, 6-2. Sims and Lui defeated McGowan and Kelly at number three doubles, 8-5.

"We played well today," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Tom Mendell. "I was impressed by the play of all of our newcomers, especially with our comeback wins. Everyone played well, and I was pleased with our overall effort."

UMass Dartmouth improved to 3-0 and 1-0 in the Little East Conference with the victory, while the Huskies fell to 2-3 and 0-1 with the defeat. The Corsairs will return to action when they visit Salem State Tuesday. Southern Maine will host UMass Boston Tuesday.